Oneness in fellowship is impossible unless it is built on the foundation of a commonly believed truth. God’s truth is not believed and divided against itself, and when His people are fragmented and divided it simply means they are to the degree apart from His truth. Only a biblically equipped, faithfully serving, and spiritually maturing church can “attain to the unity of the faith” in accordance to Ephesians 4:13-15. We must understand that there can never be unity in the church apart from doctrinal integrity. Growing in the deeper “knowledge of the Son of God” is a life-long process that will not be complete until we see our Lord face-to-face. Therefore, the Christian is called to “walk in the same manner as [Jesus] walked” (1 John 2:6). To walk as our Lord walked flows from a life of prayer and obedience to God’s Word. This can only happen as we commit our minds to understanding the clear teaching from the Word of God. Despite our unprecedented education, sophistication, freedom, and access to God’s Word and sound Chrisitan teaching, it seems that every religious huckster can find a ready hearing and financial support from among God’s people. Authentic, mature believers whose lives are marked by love will not be victims of false teaching (Ephesians 4:14), but will be living authentically and proclaiming the true gospel to a deceived and deceiving world. The spiritually equipped church is a church that will reach out in love to proclaim the saving gospel. It is the combination of truth and love that counteracts the two great threats to powerful ministry – lack of truth and lack of compassion. Speaking “the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) does not mean that we accept sinful behavior as acceptable. Rather, it means that we lovingly point to sinful behavior as something to repent from, and turn to the Lord who gives us the strength to overcome that behavior. It is the church that is commissioned by the Lord to give hope and help to those who are in bondage to their sinful choices. The power to overcome is not in the people, but rather in the Spirit of God who enables the church people to come alongside of others to assist them in the victory of the flesh.
